2023/24 Board of Directors
A financial strategist who helps investors achieve maximum double bottom line impact for their commercial real estate portfolios. With clients ranging from multinational corporations to family offices to faith-based institutions, Ms. Perkins believes in the power of innovation and diversity to drive inclusive growth in the country’s most dynamic markets.
At CIVITAS, Carmen Perkins has spearheaded the firm’s strategy of advancing relationships with government entities, corporations, universities, and national nonprofits to catalyze economic regeneration through thoughtful place-based investment.
Ms. Perkins brings to CIVITAS over 25 years of expertise in investment banking, real estate finance, investment management, financial modeling and transaction management. Prior to CIVITAS, Ms. Perkins served for sixteen years as Executive Vice President of Durham Capital, a New York investment bank, where she closed over $4 billion of financing transactions in the global energy and real estate sectors and led business development efforts yielding 5x increase in deal volume over her tenure.
Previously, in Mergers and Acquisitions at Goldman Sachs & Co., she provided investment banking advisory services for public and private companies pursuing cross border M&A transactions as well as for small and minority businesses as a founding team member of the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Ms. Perkins served as a Transfer Pricing Economist in the International Tax practice of Price Waterhouse.
Ms. Perkins is the founder of Columbia Partners, an investment advisor originating debt financing transactions, as well as Columbia Opportunity Fund I LP, a Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund.
Ms. Perkins has a longstanding commitment to community engagement. In her board service, she is passionate about amplifying each organization’s mission through its investment and finance strategy, with emphasis on sustainable investing, expansion of women and diverse manager programs, and DEI impact on endowment growth.
Ms. Perkins earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Columbia University and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia. She is a member of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, the International Well Building Institute, and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network. Ms. Perkins resides in Washington, DC with her husband and three children.
